Hillary Clinton's Latest Speech Proves She's "Out of the Woods" for Good

Hillary Clinton is finally ready to come "out of the woods" — and her return was well worth the wait.

Taking the stage at the Professional Businesswomen of California Conference in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon, the former Secretary of State delivered a fiery and passionate keynote speech that many saw as her most political yet since losing the 2016 election to President Donald Trump.

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"There is no place I would rather be than here with you," she said to the crowd of thousands, "other than the White House."

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Throughout her speech, Clinton spoke of the everyday struggles women — especially women of color — face in the workplace, mixing personal anecdotes with calls to action to continue fighting for change.

"There's never been a more important woman than the woman who stands up and says, not just for herself, but for everybody else, 'We want diversity and inclusion in everything we do in our country,'" she said. "I bet just about everybody in this room has had the experience of saying something in a meeting that gets ignored. Ten, twenty minutes later, a man says the same thing, and everybody thinks, 'It's genius!'"

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Clinton also spoke at length about the importance of encouraging women and girls everywhere to persist in the face of defeat, and how diverse representation in all sectors of business and government is necessary to reverse society's acceptance of sexism and discrimination.

"Advancing the rights and opportunities of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st Century," she said. "Some days, I admit, it seems like it may be even more unfinished than we hoped. Because while we women have made strides in education and careers, there's still a woeful lack of women in the upper reaches of science and technology, business and education, not to mention politics and government."

"Women's representation in the current administration in Washington, for example, is the lowest it's been in a generation," she continued. "But I am here today to urge us not to grow tired. Not to be discouraged and disappointed. Not to throw up our hands because change isn't happening fast enough. Or to even take a pass because we think we've done our part. We need more women at any table, on any conference call, or email chain, where decisions are made... But even that's not enough. We can't stop there. We need to reset the table, so women are no longer required to accept or adapt to discrimination and sexism at work."

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As an example, Clinton spoke of Rep. Maxine Waters and journalist April Ryan, and how both women have faced blatant discrimination for doing their jobs over the past couple days.

"Where everyday sexism and structural barriers were once blatant, today, they're sometimes harder to spot — but make no mistake, they're still with us," she said. "Now too many women, especially women of color, have had a lifetime of practice taking precisely these kinds of indignities in stride. But why should we have to? And any woman who thinks this couldn't be directed at her is living in a dream world."

"I mean, it's not like I didn't know all the nasty things they were saying about me," she continued, emphasizing the word "nasty" to cheers from the audience. "Some of them were actually quite creative! Ones I hadn't heard before. But you just have to keep going."

Throughout her speech, Clinton also took a couple jabs at the president — first criticizing Trump for the lack of women in his cabinet before discussing his approach to healthcare, particularly regarding women's reproductive rights. She also said the GOP's replacement bill for Obamacare was "disastrous," and the fact that it did not was pass was "a victory for all Americans." (She later cautioned, however, that the "the other side never quits. Soon or later they’ll try again, and we will need to fight back twice as hard.")

"Recently, photos have been making the rounds on social media, showing groups of men in Washington making decisions about women's health. Decisions to strip away coverage for pregnancy and maternity care, or limit access to reproductive healthcare around the group," she said. "We shake our heads, and think, 'How could they not have invited any women to the table?'"

She went on to agree with a recent New York Times op-ed that suggested this decision was actually intentional, and meant to send the message: "Don't worry, the men are in charge of everything."

"My favorite take on these pictures, maybe you saw it, the one of dogs sitting around an oval table?," she joked. "And the caption was, 'Discussing feline care.' I liked that."

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However, Clinton made it very clear in her remarks that she was not discouraged by this — and if anything, she's more inspired than ever. Praising the Women's Marches around the world on the day after the inauguration, she spoke of her excitement to see so many young women and girls fired up about politics. She also shared her new personal motto: "Resist. Persist. Insist. Enlist."

"I don't think our country has ever been better positioned to take on the challenges of the future," she said. "Where some see a dark vision of carnage, I see a light shining on creativity and opportunity."

While the former Secretary of State did not specify how she intends to move forward from here, she did offer her fans some hope that this won't be the end of her career in public service.

"As candidate for president, I put out a comprehensive plan [about paid family leave]," she said. "I don’t expect you to remember that. In fact, there was a recent study showing that none of my plans were really publicized or talked about. So, that gives me something [to talk about in] speeches for at least a decade.”

"Obviously, the outcome of the election wasn't the one I hoped for or worked for, but I will never stop speaking out," she continued.

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